Title VII of the
Civil Rights Act of 1964

Originally proposed by President John F. Kennedy in 1963, the Civil Rights Act
was a highly controversial issue in the United States. The bill languished in
the House of Representatives until after President Kennedy’s assassination, when
President Lyndon B. Johnson strengthened the proposal and adopted it as his
own. The bill was pushed into law on July 2, 1964, following an overwhelming
bipartisan support from the House of Representatives, and one of the longest
debates in the Senate’s history.

Groups opposed to the Act, and to integration in general, responded with a
significant backlash by protesting, increasing their support of pro-segregation
political candidates, and increasing racial violence. The constitutionality of
the Act was challenged and upheld by the Supreme Court in the test case
Heart of
Atlanta Motel v. U.S. (1964). The act gave federal law enforcement agencies the
power to prevent racial discrimination in employment, voting, and the use of
public facilities.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 includes 11 main provisions or titles dealing with
discrimination of individuals based on race, color, gender, religion or national
origin. The Title VII portion of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 deals primarily with
employment issues: prohibiting discrimination against applicants or employees
based on race, color, sex, religion or national origin, and is the first federal
statue to protect against discrimination. It continues to have a significant
impact on hiring practices, today.

Title VII covers private employers with 15 or more employees, local, state and
federal governments, educational institutions, private and public employment
agencies, labor unions and organizations, and joint labor-management committees.

These issues can be expanded to include discrimination based on: Ethnicity,
Ethnic Surname or Association, Nation of Origin, Candidate or Employee’s
Birthplace, Birthplace of Family Members, Applicant or Employee’s Native
Language, Linguistic Accents or Characteristics, Physical Characteristics of an
Ethnic Origin, or any condition that primarily or exclusively affects one racial
or ethnic group (such as sickle cell anemia), Marital Status, Pregnancy, Number
of Dependents, Occupation of Spouse, Healthcare Coverage of Spouse, Childcare
Arrangements, Sexual Preference, Religious Affiliation, Religious Holidays
Observed, Religious Practices, Religious Attendance and/or Activities, and so
on.

In part, Title VII states:

DISCRIMINATION BECAUSE OF RACE, COLOR, RELIGION, SEX, OR NATIONAL ORIGIN

SEC. 703. (a) It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer--

(1) to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to
discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms,
conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual's race,
color, religion, sex, or national origin; or

(2) to limit, segregate, or classify his employees in any way which would
deprive or tend to deprive any individual of employment opportunities or
otherwise adversely affect his status as an employee, because of such
individual's race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

(b) It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employment agency to fail
or refuse to refer for employment, or otherwise to discriminate against, any
individual because of his race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, or to
classify or refer for employment any individual on the basis of his race, color,
religion, sex, or national origin.

(c) It shall be an unlawful employment practice for a labor organization--

(1) to exclude or to expel from its membership, or otherwise to discriminate
against, any individual because of his race, color, religion, sex, or national
origin;

(2) to limit, segregate, or classify its membership, or to classify or fail or
refuse to refer for employment any individual, in any way which would deprive or
tend to deprive any individual of employment opportunities, or would limit such
employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect his status as an employee
or as an applicant for employment, because of such individual's race, color,
religion, sex, or national origin; or

(3) to cause or attempt to cause an employer to discriminate against an
individual in violation of this section.

(d) It shall be an unlawful employment practice for any employer, labor
organization, or joint labor-management committee controlling apprenticeship or
other training or retraining, including on-the-job training programs to
discriminate against any individual because of his race, color, religion, sex,
or national origin in admission to, or employment in, any program established to
provide apprenticeship or other training.

(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of this title, (1) it shall not be an
unlawful employment practice for an employer to hire and employ employees, for
an employment agency to classify, or refer for employment any individual, for a
labor organization to classify its membership or to classify or refer for
employment any individual, or for an employer, labor organization, or joint
labor-management committee controlling apprenticeship or other training or
retraining programs to admit or employ any individual in any such program, on
the basis of his religion, sex, or national origin in those certain instances
where religion, sex, or national origin is a bona fide occupational
qualification reasonably necessary to the normal operation of that particular
business or enterprise, and (2) it shall not be an unlawful employment practice
for a school, college, university, or other educational institution or
institution of learning to hire and employ employees of a particular religion if
such school, college, university, or other educational institution or
institution of learning is, in whole or in substantial part, owned, supported,
controlled, or managed by a particular religion or by a particular religious
corporation, association, or society, or if the curriculum of such school,
college, university, or other educational institution or institution of learning
is directed toward the propagation of a particular religion.

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Sue Campbell,
1st-Writer.com - over 18 years
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